Saturday, 31 December 2011

This is my second daughter Meagan, showing off her Xmas present from mama.

Made from Moda Vera Harmony, doubled up to make it chunky. Crocheted using a 5mm hook. This cowl is supposed to be long enough to wear over your head as well. Unfortunately, I ran out of wool. I had five balls and used about 4 and a half. And while it fits over my head, it kind of looks like a hijab instead of a cowl. LOL. Meagan is taller than me and also did not want to squash her bow so please excuse my goofy head.......

It definitely could use another section if worn in this manner so that it bunches more at the bottom.

Meagan lives down in Melbourne, where it is much colder than here so she will use it as a neck cowl and maybe pull it up if freezing. Unlike her little sister who poses readily for the camera, this one pulled faces and sighed a lot. haha! Just love this, get on with it mum already! Enough!

Sometimes mothers are annoying, hey?

Do you like her bow? Her big sister, Ashlee made it. She sells them on Etsy along with loads of other creations. They are quite popular along with the little bow rings she also makes. Here is a link to her store, if you would like to check it out. Whispy Love

Oh and here is my little faerie, Gemma, wearing her xmas hat.

I decided not to sew eyes on after all as I thought it looked a bit too cutesy like that for an adult. She loved it! And unlike her father who insisted he could not see any owls on this hat, she saw them straight away and was very happy!

Once again, Happy New Year! And for those who are wary of 2012, don't be, its not the end, its merely the beginning again!

I whipped this little hat up the other day as a nice little change from knitting furiously away at my Eucalyptus Cardigan. That, by the way, is coming along nicely after several run ins with boys who don't know how to sit on a lounge that has knitting on it. Lets just say, many argghhhs later, I am remembering to put it up high before leaving it now.

This little cutie was discovered on ravelry, and here is the link to the pattern over at Pea Soup. This little hat was delightful and easy to make. The instructions are easy to follow so great for beginners as well.

I used some of the left over wool from my Lotus Cardi. (Bendigo Woollen Mills - Luxury- Lotus) and a little bit of green (Bendigo Woollen Mills - Rustic - Elm). I knitted it in the round on as set of four 4mm needles.

After posting it on facebook last night, I was asked to make one in gum nut colours. Funny as I had thought of making gum nut hats before but never got around to it. Here is some incentive I guess. Lucky for me, the colours of the bush are among my favourites hey?

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Its so funny, whenever Ashlee and I make gifts for each other, it often comes with the comment...I so wanted to keep this one for myself.

Well, lucky for me, in this case......I had not yet given her the other gift I had for her which was a little wooden box decorated all sewing room like and filled with a set of crochet hooks because on her previous visit she was trying to take one of my hooks home with her. She might have just kept it after all. LOL I think she will be making another one for sure now though.

It is so beautifully quilted, and the inside has so many hook holes that there is plenty of room for MORE.....YAY....

Last year she gave me several little purses that I keep my hooks and other little bits and pieces in but this one is just beautiful. I love that I can now lay it out and immediately see all the hooks instead of rummaging through the small purses. Although I do love my purses too because they are very easy to pop in my bag. And I still have more hooks floating around with projects on the go, that is why the smaller hooks are sharing space.

I do so LOVE this gift! How lucky am I? To have such creative children is truly a blessing!

Today we are taking our other daughter Meagan to the airport as she is flying home. (insert sad face). Its been so lovely having her home this week. Sadly, she has to go back as she has work. So she cannot stay to see in the new year. We are all going to miss her BIG time. Its always harder the first few weeks after a visit. I wish she did not live quite so far away. Although Ashlee lives out of home she visits every other week so at least we squeeze in some regular hugs. Sigh. ....

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Well, Xmas has been and gone. I hope you had a perfectly beautiful one. AND the gifts have been given away so now I can show you just what I did with these. First I lovingly grew some herbs in my garden. Then I harvested them, dried them and stored them in recycled Coffee jars. I have a bit of a soft spot for these jars, they come in all sizes and are most useful. I decorated the jars with some pretty stickers and made some labels.....then, I popped a doily on top to make it pretty.......and tied it with a ribbon...

I popped in a little herb strainer.......Gemma added a little ribbon to this too. ;-)

Then I put it in a pretty box and added a floral headband and some pearl and flower bracelets.....

It looked very pretty, don't you think?

Next I wrapped it all up in cellophane and tied it with some curly ribbon.

This gift was for my oldest daughter, Ashlee. SHE LOVED IT!!!!! Phew And I had so much fun putting it together. Now I just have to convince her to actually open it and use it. LOL She did not want to undo all the prettiness.

Friday, 23 December 2011

And the tree is as dressed as it will be this year. And presents are growing daily underneath too. Its been a busy couple of days. Fingers crossed I managed to stamp out the sick vibes in the house. No more victims have been claimed so far and we managed to spend a couple of days with our oldest daughter and her puppy visiting and picked up our second oldest daughter from the airport.

Its been all about family visits this week as my sister and her family are also staying at my mums. Yesterday we had fun playing charades and just hanging out indoors as the weather has not been kind to us at all. Still raining and more like winter than summer around here.

After my girls departed, yes the oldest stole the other one and they headed down to Sydney, to stay at her house for a couple of days as they "need" to go to the Harry Potter Exhibition you know before it ends. My poor faerie girl has to work today though so she misses out. :-( Originally the plan was all three girls would go together. But as free tickets were organised, it had to be today.

Left all alone, after such a hectic busy week, I consoled myself by whipping up a little cupcake....a yarn one of course! (please excuse crappy picture, I uploaded it to facebook via my phone then copied it...I know...very tacky indeed.. but it is rather early in the morning and clearly I am not in the mood for a photo shoot right now).

I also managed to do a few rows on my Eucalyptus Cardi and the scarf I told you I was working on. Projects on the Go! (Gotta love em) And yes it really is a day for tacky pictures isn't it? hehe! I am sure you will forgive me and even the tacky handle on my much loved bag there, must replace it, but never seem to get around to it. Its just one of those bags one cannot throw away you know? The fabric is too darned loverly!

I did take a picture of my very first attempt at felting, the heartfelt ring by Tiny Owl Knits....later on I did felt it a bit more and while the ring itself looked better and more like felt, the heart took a slight beating. It kind of looks more like a little bear head now (bahahaha) and I could not find my little snip snip scissors. I think I am WAY overdue for some cross stitch time. I am sure to find at least six pairs amongst my cottons and aida. Hmmmmm That said, I probably won't make a habit of felting, especially if it requires using my hands to roll with. Soap and my hands do not mix, I have terrible dermatitis and this little baby made it flair and hurt. It was fun to try something different though.

The house is so quiet that I could sit here and chat for hours, but I have a little laundry to take care of and then my sister in law is coming to collect me and take me off to an aged care home where we are going to make like Santa and give out some gifts. I am very much looking forward to this part of Xmas.

Have a beautiful SUMMER's day (or Winter as the case may be) my lovelies! (Ahem can someone please turn on the SUN?) Happy Yule to those who celebrate and Happy Xmas Eve Eve to the rest of you! May LOVE and LIGHT surround you on this blessed day!

Monday, 19 December 2011

Well, its about time hey? We have had a bit of a hectic week with sick children at our house. There is a virus going around amongst friends and it seems to wait about 3 days between victims so is dragged out a bit. Upset tummies, and late night/early morning vomiting has been the go, followed by chest and/or stomach pain for the full next day. And of course fevers that don't want to break. Not a lot of sleep between us all either.

Lets say it has been a messy, tiring experience all around. And for children, not a fun way to start the pre-Christmas week. So far, there has been NO Christmas baking around here. We are hoping that the rest of us do not get it as well. In between bouts we have made a few frantic trips to the shops to try and buy presents and any time not spent cleaning has seen this mama busy creating gifts as best she can.

So lets get with some cheer shall we?

Angel's are hanging with bells and hearts......

Little stockings are awaiting candy fillings, so many of them too.......

Even the Golden Snitch is hanging around.........

I would show you the whole tree...but...well....its not done yet!!!! LOL Seriously I hung just a few decorations last night in between stroking a sick child and trying to get fluids into him. The tree will get done before Christmas, I promise!

Today was spent getting our second oldest daughters room cleared and ready for her arrival on Wednesday night (she lives in Melbourne so needs to fly interstate to get here) and the afternoon was spent madly crocheting away between all the other stuff which we are trying to pretend is not happening.

Interesting hey? I ended up making three and they turned into these......

I can't show you what I did with them just yet as it will spoil the surprise. But I promise to show you after the big day! Its a gift and I don't want any sneaky peaking from my girls! I am also working on a scarf this week as its something I can keep in my bag when I am out and about.

Hope everything is going smoothly in your neck of the woods! Take care my lovelies. Keep well and happy!

Saturday, 17 December 2011

I have been blessed with a couple of awards this week and thought I had better hurry up and pass them on before its next year already! (and ok, I admit that I received this same award on my family blog earlier this year and in all my traveling and lack of blogging forgot to pass it on! :-O)

With this blog being so new, I feel honoured that not one but two people thought of me this week.

This award was originally designed with new bloggers in mind. The idea being to pass it on to someone with less than 200 followers, linking to each recipient so that others might visit their blogs as well. Therefore not just passing on an award but sharing the love of bloggy friendship and meeting new people at the same time. A lovely idea indeed!

According to google translation, the word Liebster means "dearest". With the passing of this award however I have learned it also means, "dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome". (Thanks Suzanne ;-))

(The original rules that came with the award, I copied them from the old link)

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.

3. Copy & paste the blog award on your blog.

4. Pick five other blogs worthy of The Liebster Blog Award.

5. Let the Top Five know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog.

Whether you choose to follow them or not is entirely up to you. I however am not so great at following "Da Rules", and since clearly I get to give out 10 (or 15 since I never gave out the first 5) I do believe that I am going to bless ALL of you with this award.

YES this means YOU! If you are reading this post, please accept this award from me with LOVE. And pass it on to your friends as you see fit. Don't be shy now!

Sorry, for not naming you individually but as I started to link to each person, it was going to take me all day and then I would not have any time to come visit you now would I?

As for sending you on to new blogs, I thought that I might share one a week with you once xmas has passed. That way I can tell you why I love that particular blog and pass on an award that I will design myself. Please visit some of the people in my sidebar links for now if you don't do so already.

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Each year as the inevitable dawning of that ONE day where everyone seems to feel obliged to give gifts a plenty and pretty much go silly over. I find myself feeling less and less enthusiastic over the whole idea in the first place.

I try to love it, I really do. But when I find myself stressing over what to get for who and whether or not they are going to like it, and meanwhile I see seemingly "intelligent" women consulting long lists of what their little darlings MUST have and panicking when one thing was not available. Making phone calls mid shop to decide what to do and even "googling" for a better price while being shoved out of the way by some other frantic mother who clearly NEEDS that toy more than she does. I find myself NOT liking it much at all.

The other day I was even asked advice by a granny who had a printed email with pictures of the EXACT toy to get for dear little "precious' if I thought it was suitable for the kid. Seriously? The kid should be grateful that granny was getting him a gift at all. The mother should be ashamed of herself for asking for such an expensive gift for him! And not one thing, but three very expensive items went into that trolley for the one child. I hope poor granny was not trying to exist on the old age pension!

And then, there was the tongue biting moment when a woman behind me, dragging small kids in tow, offered to rip her childs arm off if he did not walk a bit faster and stop whinging for "f's" sake. Oh my! My passive gentle self was a bit ready to RIP her arm off among other things I tell you. Its called a baby sitter lady!

I am awaiting some eyes!

Now I am not entirely Bah Hum Bug about the whole thing, I quite like the whole family togetherness part and the food of course! I think it is more my aversion to shopping that is the problem and sharing personal space with such individuals as those mentioned above, I guess.

So in my usual fashion. I found myself running home and panicking, yes panicking over how quickly I might "make" some last minute gifts. Because clearly this shopping centre business is really NOT for me!

Yikes! Not sure if there is enough yarn to complete this one! Might have to compromise!

And my usual habit of gift giving when ever I feel like it as opposed to waiting for a "special" day has my craft cupboard looking a little bare other than "baby" things. I thought if I could make "one a day" I might just have it covered. Lets just say that has not panned out. My projects were taking more like three days each. But I did manage to do a little and come up with some ideas for other gifts.

And my wanting to curl up in my own cocoon of things I love like, yarn, books and herbs found me remember things like this....

Pressed Tansy Leaves

that I had previously pressed ready for a little gift idea I had quite forgotten about! And for things such as these.......

Elder flowers!

Mint

...which will be added to jars, hopefully labelled with a little artistic flair as a gift for someone who keeps asking me for dried herbs from my garden. I thought I might also pot some herbs but see how I go for time.

Its going to be a very busy and full week, thats for sure. Today I have an English/History class to teach the boys have a metal work lesson to attend on Thursday which is a bit far away so takes a chunk out of our day. I think we will make that our last day of "school" for the year or I doubt I will get much done at all.

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

I started another crochet project last week. The Trinity Lace Shrug (details here).

I had initially thought to do it as a One a Day project as there first medallions to be made......BUT....

As I did nine in one sitting, I just kept on going and it was not until I reached the lace panel part that I realised as it wrapped way too far around me, that I had in fact used the wrong thickness of yarn. Woops! I took off two medallions and continued anyway. It will be good practice, if nothing else. LOL (I stretched it a bit so you can see the pattern..)

We will see how it looks after blocking. I am leaving it for a few days now, while I work on a couple of little projects, hopefully to give as xmas gifts. I have been very slack in this dept this year. Last year I made lots of little presents. This year I have just not had the time.

Have a lovely day all! I am off to snuggle on the couch and cast on some knitting!

Monday, 5 December 2011

The lovely, Jill from "Stocki" is hosting a most wonderful Crochet Along and Give Away for all you Crochet Lovers out there. The idea is for each of us to send in one or more granny squares to contribute towards making a "Beautiful Blogger Blanket for 2012".

Once she has received all the squares, she will join them all up and then everyones names will go into a draw and One Lucky Contributer will WIN the Beautiful Blanket!!!!! If you win, you can either keep the blanket for yourself or give it to someone else as a gift. What a wonderful idea!

Initially I jumped at the chance just to join in. I thought, how lovely for all of us to make something beautiful together. And then when I realised the blanket was a prize at the end of it, I knew straight away just WHO would be receiving it if I was lucky enough to win.

There is a certain little girl, who lives all the way on the other side of the planet. I have never met this little girl but stumbled across her mama's blog years ago when I first started our homeschooling journey. I found support, inspiration and a great sense of love that helped me remember certain things that I personally believed in, and had maybe forgotten over time due to living in this modern world of ours.

I won't go into more detail than this for now, but this little girl got very sick. And she is still fighting for survival every day. She is so brave and like many children who get sick, taking it all in her stride. She is one amazing little girl!

So with her in mind, I began looking for ideas for my contribution to this blanket. I wanted to make something that represented nature and her favourite colour. Yesterday I whipped up these two patterns....

This one is no good. I don't quite get the logic of the pattern. It does not actually square off on the corners and as the white cotton was a bit thinner, I doubled it. Now it is a little too bulky to join up. So no, I won't be using that one. Although, I do very much like the flower. Maybe I will use it for something else.

This one, I quite like. What do you think? I need to tweak the pattern a bit in the border row. The start and finish did not tee up. I re-read the pattern and I had not read it wrong. I think they must have printed it wrong though. So I will fix it on the next one.

I plan to try out a few more ideas before making a decision. December is not the best time to post things overseas so I will wait till January to send mine off. This gives me a couple of weeks to play around with patterns too!

SO, do you know someone you would love to present with A Beautiful Blanket? Can you see yourself wrapped up in its loveliness? If so, pop on over to Stocki's blog and sign up! Go on! You know you want to! And Good Luck! I can't wait to see all the lovely contributions and of course the finished blanket!

Saturday, 3 December 2011

Once upon a time, in the Australian bush, a bush faerie heard the call of the colours of nature around her. She loved the colours so much that she wanted to enjoy them all the time. She wondered if she could freeze time and make the bush stay that way forever?

Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans! With the changing of the seasons, the colours changed an awful lot. And in the summertime especially, the bush became very dry, very quickly. The colours changed rapidly and no matter how hard the little bush faerie tried. She could never capture them quite quickly enough to hold them all together at once.

One day, as winter was approaching, and the little faerie was looking down at the ground beneath her toes, she wondered if maybe she wove together the colours just a little at a time, could she then, save them all at once?

If she could just breathe them in, one by one, she may just be able to capture them and weave them together. And so thats what she did....she added a little more each time and slowly began to capture them all. She draped them around herself and giggled with joy!

And slowly the colours in all their beauty were becoming a part of her.

Sometimes they would change while she was weaving them and she would get a little frustrated. She wished that they would change back so she could catch them once more.

But she knew in her heart that just like the seasons change, so it must be with her colours. And even when the colours began to fade and she could only find a little of each. She worried that she would not be able to capture enough to wrap herself in completely.

She remembered.....

That if she would but accept them, the way they were, she could be happy, no matter what colours she managed to capture. No matter how much of herself she covered.

And so, she continued to breathe them in and soon she was surrounded in the beautiful colours of the bush and she danced and she twirled as only a bush faerie would.

And she wondered why she had ever doubted herself in the first place.

Because the colours in the bush are beautiful, no matter what time of the year you see them. And no matter how short the time.

And as she rested and wondered what she would do next. She remembered the animals and she wondered, "Could I catch their colours too?" "Or should I venture out of the bush, where the humans are? I bet there are many more colours out there?"

But then she thought, she would take a rest. And concentrate instead on feeling the earth beneath her feet and the wind in her hair! Because sometimes my friends it is far better to just enjoy the colours rather than try to catch them. Don't you think?